Pronouns: Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources

Are You My Mother?Students use P. D. Eastman's book to search for pronouns and antecedents. Follow the tab for downloadable charts and worksheets. Designed for grades K-2.

Avoiding Sexist Language by Using Gender-Fair PronounsThis lesson plan engages students in a brief writing assignment that concretely illustrates how language and gender stereotyping interact causally. Students write a response to a short prompt which includes no information about the participants' gender. Once the writing is complete, students and teacher analyze the narratives for the use of pronouns and what the pronoun choices reveal about language use. This lesson requires 2 50-minute periods and is designed for high school.

Chalking Points: Me versus MyselfThis downloadable YouTube video (3:22) explains when to use the objective and when to use the reflexive forms. Very engaging; will work with upper elementary through college. Includes advertising at the end.

Chalking Points: That vs. WhichThis downloadable YouTube video (4:20) explains how to use these relative pronouns with restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. Includes advertising at the very end.

Scrutinizing Stand-Ins: Working With Nouns and PronounsStudents identify the connection between nouns and pronouns and discuss how the clarity of a sentence is affected by using a noun as opposed to a pronoun. This lesson is from the New York Times and includes a link to an article (informational text) and discussion/analysis questions. Depending on the article selected, this approach can work with anyone old enough to study pronouns.

Vague PronounsStudents read and analyze a mentor text (an excerpt from Roald Dahl's "Boy: Tales of Childhood," included), write their own narrative vignette, and analyze their use of pronouns. Designed for high school.